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No. But it’s Tom Wilson. If anyone in the NHL has a reputation, it’s him. Having watched the hit myself, I feel like it looked way worse in real time. For most people that’s probably a two or five minute penalty, that’s it.

Here’s the conclusion that I come to every time with one of these Wilson hits. Regardless of whether he deserves the punishment for his latest hit, the guy’s got to know better. He’s extremely valuable to this team - we play much, much better with him in the lineup than without him. Knowing this, he needs to dial it way back and not even come close to the line because if he does his reputation will carry him over it.

Most Caps fans defend Wilson to a fault and it’s infuriating to me because he does deserve a lot of the punishments he gets, and even though I like him in the lineup because we play better with him, he doesn’t have a good head between his shoulders. He’s immature and needs to realize that his actions are dumb and are hurting his team. He’ll be out of the league before he knows it if he can’t stop.

Having just been in DC for the Ducks/Caps game on Sunday (and oh hot dandy what a goddamn game that was), I've got to say the two things that truly stood out among the Caps fan experience were the "Unleash the Fury" montage/standing ovation (pretty cool and unique moment) and the unreal canonization of Tom Wilson.

Especially with it being the game after the New Jersey hit, like I really just don't get the fervor of support for the guy. As a Ducks fan, I'm obviously no stranger to the "hate them on other teams/love them on your team" guys (see: Perry, Corey or Kesler, Ryan), but at a certain point, how does Tom Wilson get to still be that? Perry and Kesler are annoying, sure, but they're not out kabong-ing dudes in the same way Wilson does. Yes, I know, 7 goals in 7 games and like you said, Crabcake, you say that the Caps play better with him in the lineup, but the dude is just flat out reckless.

You walk around the concourse, and the ad boards flashed between advertisements and graphics of only three separate players: Ovechkin, Holtby, and Wilson (and at least in my corner of the upper deck, it only seemed to be Ovechkin and Wilson). Wilson shirseys are everywhere, and one of the more prominent non-Ovechkin ones in the team store. Plenty of Wilson jerseys.

Again, there are always the on-the-line players on every team, and usually, the hometown fans love that type of guy and fight for his side. But when that guy now has several suspensions on his record with the exact type of thing we're trying to get out of the game? I don't understand how they can still throw THAT LEVEL of support behind him every night.

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Having just been in DC for the Ducks/Caps game on Sunday (and oh hot dandy what a gosh darn game that was), I've got to say the two things that truly stood out among the Caps fan experience were the "Unleash the Fury" montage/standing ovation (pretty cool and unique moment) and the unreal canonization of Tom Wilson.

Especially with it being the game after the New Jersey hit, like I really just don't get the fervor of support for the guy. As a Ducks fan, I'm obviously no stranger to the "hate them on other teams/love them on your team" guys (see: Perry, Corey or Kesler, Ryan), but at a certain point, how does Tom Wilson get to still be that? Perry and Kesler are annoying, sure, but they're not out kabong-ing dudes in the same way Wilson does. Yes, I know, 7 goals in 7 games and like you said, Crabcake, you say that the Caps play better with him in the lineup, but the dude is just flat out reckless.

You walk around the concourse, and the ad boards flashed between advertisements and graphics of only three separate players: Ovechkin, Holtby, and Wilson (and at least in my corner of the upper deck, it only seemed to be Ovechkin and Wilson). Wilson shirseys are everywhere, and one of the more prominent non-Ovechkin ones in the team store. Plenty of Wilson jerseys.

Again, there are always the on-the-line players on every team, and usually, the hometown fans love that type of guy and fight for his side. But when that guy now has several suspensions on his record with the exact type of thing we're trying to get out of the game? I don't understand how they can still throw THAT LEVEL of support behind him every night.

Totally agree. The “Free Wilson” sentiment was huge after his suspension to start the season (which btw I think was totally justified). I think Caps fans almost feel like the league has something against him or something. I don’t get it.

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The NHL is, indisputably, weird. One moment, you're in awe of the speed, skill and intensity that define the sport, shaking your head as a player makes an impossible play, or shatters a longstanding record, or sobs into his first Stanley Cup. The next, everyone's wearing earmuffs, Mr. Rogers has shown up, and guys in yellow raincoats are officiating playoff games while everyone tries to figure out where the league president went. That's just life in the NHL, a league that often can't seem to get out of its own way. No matter how long you've been a hockey fan, you know that sinking feeling that maybe, just maybe, some of the people in charge here don't actually know what they're doing. And at some point, you've probably wondered: Has it always been this way?

The short answer is yes. As for the longer answer, well, that's this book.

Hell yes.

In this fun, irreverent and fact-filled history, Sean McIndoe relates the flip side to the National Hockey League's storied past. His obsessively detailed memory combines with his keen sense for the absurdities that make you shake your head at the league and yet fanatically love the game, allowing you to laugh even when your team is the butt of the joke (and as a life-long Leafs fan, McIndoe takes the brunt of some of his own best zingers). The "Down Goes Brown" History of the NHL is the weird and wonderful league's story told as only Sean McIndoe can.